Karlsbund

The Flag of the Karlsbund

Karlsbund, literally Karl's Federation, also called The Karlsbund was a decentralized federation of free cities around the Inner Sea led by the city of Karlsburg.

Thurian Era

The area of the Karlsbund had been known in ancient times as Thure and Whitehaven. When the old Archadian Empire crumbled under the pressure of numerous external and internal wars, Thure gained new lands and with them new subjects. Whitehaven, culturally close to Thure, was devastated by a sudden change of climate, depriving the people of their living space. Most of the Whitehaveners moved to Cecasandria to blend with the locals, while Thure's men of power suddenly found themselves the masters of large swathes of fertile soil. With the decline of the old world abroad, trade became less and less profitable. At the same time, Nosamo's navy ruled the sea and enforced the ban on piracy. Slowly, Thurian raiders and seafarers became farmers and artists. Especially as the Solarian faith began to spread, putting an end to the aggressive propagation of warfare by the Thurian gods.

In around 650 AIC, disaster struck. As if to punish the old Thurian capital for being the only town not yet having renounced the old gods, pestilence broke out in Thure, at the heart of the trade node of an entire region. More than three quarters of the population perished in agony, peasants and nobles alike. Rudwik the Wise recognized the nature of this threat and closed city gates as well as the harbor, thus shutting off traffic into and out of Thure and thereby preventing the further spreading of the plague. But to the simple people on the street it was a sign of the Solarian god that those who do not follow him will get wiped from his world. The big fire of 703 AIC, only one year after the pestilence receded, put an end to the city. There were not enough people left to rebuild what was lost. Cecasandria was separated from the older Thurian territories and developed its own culture. The towns that had lived in the shadow of Thure for many centuries had no interest in paying for its revival.

Founding of the Karlsbund

Due to the land's distance from the heart of the Empire and the strategic position at the pulse of the southern trade routes, cities in the region gained much power and a strong class of burghers formed. With the rise of the Sotiran church of Tor Ardwen in 785 AIC, the rather well educated burghers of Karlsburg quickly adopted the new ideas. Instead of transferring the profits of their hard work to a decadent clergy in the far away land of Archadia , the townsfolk decided to take their religious well-being into their own hands. They translated the age-old religious texts into their local language and established a new clergy which was emancipated from the heliarch.

The ensuing civil war sparked by the schism also affected the region, and soon the first towns laid under siege. It was a local shipwright, Karl Reedewik, who raised funds and forged alliances with many towns of the south, refit the merchant fleet to take up military duties and finally freed the entire region of Omnican troops. The temporary alliance he created proved effective, earning him much popularity and wealth. In the year 836 AIC, two years before Istvan Nagy would successfully oust the Tor Ardwen regime, the Karlsbund was formally created. In order to not favor any particular member of the federation, a new capital was erected and named "Karlsburg".

Relations to the nearby Desteylle were shaky with comradeship on the grounds of common faith and shared history on one side, and harsh rivalry and competition in trade interests and colonialism on the other side. After a short period of diplomatic reconciliation, the War of the Spice Islands flung both realms into a new diplomatic ice age, with Desteylle closing its ports and markets to Karlist merchants and the Karlsbund openly declaring Desteylle the greatest menace to the federation.

Members

Territories of the federation included:

• Karlsburg
• Süderland
• Goldenes Haff
• Salzenau
• Loor
• Bad Blum
• Kleine Zeiß
• Joop's Island
• Tharanter Land
• Waldeck
• Hohe Mark
• Große Zeiß
• Tauern
• Aaland